Colorado TBF/FLW Members Step up on Fathers Day

By Dave Kooser

With a large portion of our military deployed overseas, Fathers Day can take on a solemn meaning when a child whose outdoor mentor is absent reflects back on Fathers Days of past. Hence a program Dave Kooser (Colorado TBF member and Colorado Walleye Association Chapter Director) started the summer of 2006.

This year Colorado TBF and Colorado Walleye Association members plus volunteers from other fishing clubs took 58 Ft. Carson Army children out fishing on Pueblo Reservoir the weekend of Fathers Day. Joining the 58 children were an additional 36 Army parents, some being soldiers who recently returned from their deployment.

The armada of 38 volunteer boats was launched June 14th and guided the children to walleye, largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass as well as yellow perch, bluegill. All boats caught fish. This outing for some of the children was their first time on a boat and the volunteers were more than happy to just cruise around the lake and let the kids enjoy a boat ride.

Said SFC Jon Spiller at the opening ceremony, ” It touches us (deployed soldiers) deeply that our families are being cared for while we are deployed.” He also expressed his appreciation to the sponsors of the event as well as the volunteers. Jon, his wife Kris and their three children attended the first event in 2006. Shortly thereafter Jon was deployed to Iraq. His family took advantage of the 2007 event with him in Iraq. With the grace of god, Jon was able to return safely to fish again with his only son on TBF member Sam Heckman’s boat.

Without the sponsors this program would not be possible. A special thanks goes out to Colorado State Parks, Zebco, Gander Mountain, Ferguson Pontiac, Tracker Boats, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Mack’s Lure, Walleye Central, Bass Pro, Outlaw Bait and Tackle, Pump It Up, Coke, Little Caesar’s, Wells Fargo, Baja Broadband, Ft. Carson MWR, Ft. Carson Outdoor Recreation, Colorado Walleye Association and Colorado TBF and FLW and the National Guard.

New College Bass Fishing Plan Designed for Sport’s Future

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (June 24, 2008) – Officials from Careco Multimedia, The Bass Federation Inc. and VERSUS today announced plans for the new Association of Collegiate Anglers Bass Fishing Series (CBFS) designed to establish the sport as a long-term, sustainable activity. The series, featuring 13 half-hour shows, is produced by Careco Multimedia and will air weekend mornings on VERSUS beginning July 2009.

Recently, The Bass Federation (TBF) formed the Association of Collegiate Anglers (ACA) using its own structure as the foundation, where clubs become associated through membership and obtain benefits. The purpose of ACA is to support every aspect of college bass fishing from developing new clubs to sanctioning events to qualifying championship contenders. The Bass Federation, with nearly 30,000 members among 47 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest organized fishing group.

“While we’re excited to see all the interest in college bass fishing, this program differs by having a student membership organization, the ACA, serving as its presenting sponsor and governing body,” said Wade Middleton, Careco general manager and a person recognized throughout the outdoor industry as being a formidable force behind today’s college bass movement. “Student anglers must have a role in where college fishing goes.”

Middleton added, “Here teams can advance through qualifying regional events to a championship where they compete head-to-head on a level playing field for top bragging rights. There’s nothing like college rivalries, and partnering with VERSUS now gives the teams a stage to showcase their skills on national television.”

Teams can earn their way into the new series’ championship through top finishes in official qualifying events. Some of these will be hosted by CBFS and others by college fishing clubs, but all are sanctioned by ACA. The events are open to active members of school-recognized fishing clubs and who are taking at least 12 credit hours while maintaining a GPA of 2.0 or higher. Event participants are not required to be ACA members, but for a school club to host a sanctioned qualifying event, it must belong to ACA.

It is anticipated that more than 600 college anglers, representing approximately 120 college fishing programs, will compete in the 2009 CBFS qualifiers to vie for the 40 two-person-team spots available in the CBFS Championship. Among the total prizes are $35,000 in scholarships, to be distributed among the top five teams. As a general rule, college fishing events have either no entry fees or ones that are minimal. A team consists of two anglers fishing from the same boat, and they are responsible for full operation of the boat.

“These college anglers are competing because they love to fish and they want to get to the championship to represent their school,” explained TBF president Robert Cartlidge. “Sure, they like to win prizes, but their ultimate goal is to have a shot at the national title, plus some of the scholarships. Winners also get a berth in TBF’s National Championship.”

Officials at BoatU.S., a prominent sponsor of college bass fishing for the past few years, say they see the new series being an evolutionary step for the sport. “We’ve always been excited about this activity and we believe the transition to the new format will again take it up another level,” said BoatU.S.’ Chris Edmonston. “We are very proud to support the growth of college fishing.”

Additional CBFS national sponsors include BoatU.S. Angler, Cabela’s, Ranger Boats, Yamaha, Garmin, Costa Del Mar, Pioneer Beef Jerky, Abu Garcia, Berkley, Fenwick, Anglers’ Legacy, Stearns, EGO Nets, Sebile, American Rodsmiths, Aviva Fishin’ Buddy, Gene Larew Lures, Nemire Lures, Sperry Top-Sider, Power Pole, City of Lewisville, Sneaky Pete’s Marina and Versus.

The 2009 schedule of qualifying events follows:

Dec. 19-20 (2008) – Stephen F. Austin University Invitational, Sam Rayburn (TX)

March 7 – NC State/Virginia Tech Invitational, Smith Mountain Lake (NC)

Mar 13-14 – Lone Star Spring Breakout, Belton Lake (TX)

Mar 20-21 – Arkansas Tech Invitational, Lake Dardanelle (AR)

April 17-18 – S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Series Championship, Lake Wilson (AL)

TBA – Midwest Invitational, TBA

TBA – Western Invitational, TBA

June 1- 5 – BoatU.S. Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, Lake Lewisville (TX)

About Careco

Careco Multimedia is a full-service video production company experienced in field acquisition and editing of top quality outdoor programming. The company produces and markets several outdoor fishing programs, including Fishing and Hunting Texas, Americana Outdoors, Whitetail Diaries, the IFA Redfish Tour and more.

About VERSUS

VERSUS celebrates real competition across all platforms (VERSUS.com, VERSUS on Demand and VERSUS HD). Now in more than 73 million homes, the network is the national cable home of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well as best-in-class events such as The Tour de France, Davis Cup Tennis, the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Professional Boxing. The network also offers collegiate sports featuring nationally-ranked teams from top conferences such as the Pac-10, Big 12 and Mountain West. VERSUS features the best field sports programming on television and is a destination for sports fans, athletes and sportsmen to find exclusive, competitive events that audiences can’t find elsewhere. VERSUS, a wholly owned company of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA, CMCSK), is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the United States.

Final Report TBF Southern Division Championship Presented By All-Pro Rods

Josh Queen

Josh Queen

Blythe Landing – Lake Norman, North Carolina

The TBF Southern Division Championship Presented by All Pro Rods is in the books and the host state of North Carolina won its first Divisional Championship title in more than a decade! They bested the rest of the field by a 34 pounds 2 ounce margin of victory and a total team weight of 247-03.

Fishing a “home” lake is tough, seldom does a home lake angler win an event, its almost like a jinx. Today the 12 man team representing the North Carolina TBF Federation proved that they had what it took to take the All-Pro Rods cup away form the State of Alabama who has held it for the last two years in a row.

” I am so proud of our guys.” Said North Carolina State President Phillip Sain, “We have been close before, and finished second at last years Southern Division Championship, so my guys were hungry for the win. They worked hard together to get the job done.”

Last year Tennessee finished 3rd right behind North Carolina 2nd place finish. This year they finished right behind North Carolina again….holding down the second place spot with 213.01. Georgia got off to a slow start on day 1, built momenteum on day 2, and made a serious push on day 3 to wind up in the third place spot finishing with 204-11. South Carolina, Alabama, Florida and Kentucky rounded out the standings.

In the individual standings it was Joshua Queen from Lincolnton, North Carolina who walked away with the Castrol Maximum Performer Award and the Division Champions title. He has earned his way to the 2009 TBF Federation National Championship, Presented by the National Guard with a three day total of 32-10. Queen will fish the event as a the boater from North Carolina.

The other anglers earning bearths in the 2009 Championship are:

Ronald Tuck, Rockwell, North Carolina – Non-Boater

Daniel Ellis – Gleason, TN – Boater

Rick Kelly – Union City, TN- Non-Boater

Justin Lanier – Macon, GA – Boater

Woody Parks – Lincolnton, GA, Non-Boater

Robert Rikard – Lexington, Sc – Boater

Craig Fredrychowski – Lexington, SC – Non-Boater (Reigning 2008 Non-Boater National Champion)

Russell Burroughs – Jacksonville, AL. – Boater

Kenny Pannell – Springfield, AL – Non-Boater

Chris Crossan – Naples, FL. – Boater

Leon Roy V – Tallahassee, FL. – Non-Boater

And Michael Boggs will represent Kentucky as their Boater

Also today The North Carolina Junior State Championship followed the adults out and weighed in on the big stage. The kids had a super time …it was all smiles around the weigh in as Don Willis and David Blanton earn thier slots in the August TBF National Guard Junior World Championship to be held Aug. 14-17 on South Carolina’s Lake Montecello, in conjuction with the 2 million dollar Forrest Wood Cup.

Day 2 TBF Southern Division Championship, Presented by All Pro Rods

Lake Norman, North Carolina

Hokey Pokey was the name of the game today at Lake Norman as the state team standing were “shaking it all up” today.

Day 1 leader North Carolina was all the way down into 5th place more than half way through the weigh-in today but a late flight surge of good limits by North Carolina anglers propelled the host state back to the top of the State standings. They finished day 2 with a total team weight of 150 pounds and 13 ounces. Tennessee moved up 2 places to second with 135-9, South Carolina slid back to third with 134-3,Georgia moves up two places to fourth with their team weight of 132-8, Alabama hung on to the fifth spot at 126-7. The Kentucky squad dropped 3 places to finish sixth with 117-8 and Florida sits in seventh at 102-4.

After a shake up like today its anyone’s guess who will win the title of division champions and take home the All-Pro Rods Southern Division Cup. One thing is for sure…North Carolina has to feel good about its chances. No one knows how many years it’s been since North Carolina won a divisional title, many years to say the least. North Carolina can’t even remember it’s been so long. They are hungry for a win and are in position to lock it up, all they have to do tomorrow is …….win.

In the individual standings, it seems to be a battle of the Carolina’s. Day 1 leader Craig Fredrychowski had another solid day, although he was overtaken by North Carolina Joshua Queen whose two day total of 20 pounds 14 ounces was bolstered by a 11-5 sack today. Queen hold the top spot by a 11 ounce margin ahead of Fredrychowski.